mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

But it seems as though you are. Yeah, who wants to see Michigan football anymore? Especially, oh what's his name Denard or something? play his last game EVER for the good guys? Along with the rest of the seniors... Yes please.

... what a year without Kellen Moore was like. (Ok, ok, so they were good without him this year, but still. that type of talent is tough to replace.)

I'm with a previous poster, perhaps he's tired of never being able to bust through to the top echelon and decided he had a better chance to break through at a team in the SEC. As a coach, there's no better conference to prove yourself than the ESS EEE SEE.

I am sure you will appreciate and respect the advice your dad has to give in regards to the demands of being at, and playing football at, Michigan. Soon it will be your own time to shine - we look forward to rooting for you in the Maize and Blue and to referring to you not as Mr. Gant's son, but as Allen Gant, our safety who is one heck of a football player.

The thing that jumped out at me was his nose for the ball. The guy can quickly diagnose a play, and he gets to the ball carrier in a hurry regardless of who is in his way. Great, great get for the Maize and Blue.

Just had to throw that out there. Also, I'm in agreement with a poster above: you have to love guys who end up going to their dream school (*am knocking on wood that he goes Blue, of course*). The fact he had to battle adversity to get there only makes it sweeter.

Here's to hoping he chooses Michigan and that he has a fantastic career, both on the field and off.

I'm in agreement with michgoblue. Texas, Cali, Ohio, Florida, Mars, any pipeline with schools that produde D1 talent is great with me. But I've loved watching the Pahokee kids play. And Odoms may fit into Hoke's style better than you/I think - Steve Smith is small(ish) and does just fine as an outside receiver in a pro-set offense. (/man-crush on Odoms.) And of course Pahokee has some bigger dudes, as Ash (DT) demonstrates...

Anyway, we can agree to disagree, but it's a non-issue since I'm sure all we really care about is that we want the men who we recruit to be thrilled to be attending Michigan. Our current team, who I think is expressing an amazing amount of solidarity, is showing that, as are our current recruits. (As am I, since I am originally from California and am thrilled to be here. Ha, it's just too bad I'm not a D-1 athlete, or else I'd recruit like Miller/Hayes and help to develop a Cali pipeline!).

... is my radar off, or are you suggesting we drop our Pahokee pipeline? (?!?!?)

Considering Odoms is one of my favorite players on the team (his tenacity and blocking for a WR reminds me of Hines Ward), dropping a Pahokee pipeline... that is just unfathomable, so I'll assume you mean you'll drink later to having a Pahokee pipeline, yes?

ESPN article talking about Westerman flipping from Texas to Auburn has quotes from the man himself:

After the season, my position coach left the program and then [six] other coaches left. It just all changed. There was no more relationship to hang my hat on, and my position coach is [who] I will spend about 90 percent of my time [with]. It was just too little too late. Auburn had it all and I was very close to my position coach there over the last 8-10 months.

As has been reiterated around these parts, the late coaching change has hurt Hoke's chances of landing elite talent this year. That being said, I think so far he's doing well in getting good players interested, and some good players are going to sign with us this year. But let's not (completely) freak out this Feb 2nd if we aren't where we all want to be with recruiting, mmmmkay? Let's wait until 2012 to get a good assessment of were Hoke is with recruiting. (Unless, of course, he exceeds expectations in which case party hard and forget sanity.)

/preemptive plea for Feb 2nd sanity

EDIT: This is not saying Keith Heitzman is not an elite player. I don't know anything about him, and for all I know he will be the next Vernon Davis/Dallas Clark/Dwight Freeney/whoever depending on what position he will play, and is not a comment about any of our other current commits. Just a comment in general highlighting what we all know - that late coaching change = difficult to estabish ties to new coaching staff in such a short amount of time.

Especially after another year to recover from his ACL tear. They say it takes two (years) to really get back. I still can't believe he played last year as effectively as he did, I mean, given that he suffered his injury so late in the prior year vs. OSU...

But yeah, I agree, don't sleep on Smith. I like all our backs in one way or another, and can't wait to see what happens.

When Tate threw it, it always seemed to be between the numbers. I was constantly impressed with his accuracy. But maybe that was because I was comparing him to Threet/Sherridan.

I love Denard, but am not in love with his accuracy. Tate DEFINITELY scrambles too much, and needs to stay in the pocket more. But in 2009 he was a true freshman relying on skills that he was able to devour the competition with in high school, and in 2010 he didn't play much. I am not positive he would have learned to stay in the pocket more as an upperclassman, but his accuracy would not have dissapeared.

Tate brought tons of excitement to this fanbase, and is one heck of an accurate passer. He's definitely fun to watch on the field. His freshman year yielded many, many "oh no he didn't" moments (good and bad, of course, but so many good ones).

What bums me the most is that he would have been a GERAT asset moving forward with our transition. When reading Brian's assessment of Al Borges' offense, how can you not think of Tate?

I'd say the prototypical Borges offense is one with an accurate (and not necessarily strong-armed) pocket passer.

Doesn't this suck. Like RR, I wish him nothing but the best and will root for him wherever he ends up (as long as he is not playing us, of course).

Ooo oo and T-wolf comes back. That alone has to account for a huge jump!

However IF (knock on wood) he doesn't improve our D over the course of a few years, with all his success in the college and pro ranks, then finally I think we can all agree that Shafer wasn't quite the evil many at the time thought he was.

Along with the majority of you, I was angry with how our coaching search transpired. I was frustrated with the delay, the seeming indecision by DB, and the ramifications that resulted, including a decrease in the number of available coaches, the obvious impact on recruits, and the general unease felt amongst the fanbase at our seemingly flailing around in search of a coach.

But I have come to realize, especially with the recent hire of Mattison, that what DB did was the only realistic way that he could have gone. Why do I say that?

Availability of coaches to talk to. We wanted to talk to JH, obviously. And DB wanted to talk to Miles, even if many of us fans on mgoblog did not. These coaches had their bowl games in 2011. Firing RR in early December, only to wait a month just to talk to these coaches, would have been worse of a blunder than what transpired, since obviously we were going to talk to them before we made a change. We had to wait to make the coaching change, IF we were going to make one at all. These two coaches didn’t work out, for various reasons, but it’s not like there aren’t other great coaches around the country, even in early January with many positions filled.

Hoke has come with glowing recommendations. Do I care he’s a “Michigan Man hurr hurr”? Obviously not, that is starting to piss me off tremendously. What I think DB sees in him is that while yes, that may help with the fanbase to give him a chance that clearly RR did not, what I think REALLY helps and what he’s really looking for is a defensive-minded guy who can elevate our D back to what we as Michigan fans have come to expect. He comes glowingly recommended by many, many people who have played college and pro ball, and if they give their support, who am I, an average fan, to disagree or even argue?

Waiting until after the bowl game gave DB a change for an honest assessment of our program. Was the bowl game absolutely necessary to evaluate the progress of our coaches? One could easily argue no, that one data point is inconsequential. BUT, I can see a point being made that our defense and special teams has been suspect over RR’s tenure, which I think we can all agree with. Our overall record has steadily improved, and our offense has been great. But with a stagnant D and special teams, that does not equal long-term success. If the bowl game, after using 15 practices to address some of our against a quality opponent, showed improvement in both categories, then I would be more optimistic for 2011. But that obviously did not happen, and there seemed to be even a regression. If extra practices didn’t help, why would one be optimistic that things would turn around?

DB is not stupid. Bold, but obviously not stupid. He has said that Michigan football is his “company’s” flagship product, and he knew how critical its success is for Michigan athletics (and therefore, his own tenure and legacy). He would not have made a change if he did not think the product on the field would be worse long-term. People may complain that the spread offense is the ONLY way to get to national prominence, but I disagree – in 2006, not too long ago, we were #2 facing #1 Ohio State. Traditional pro-style offense is more boring, but modern pro-style offenses, whatever that means, can be dynamic and incorporate spread elements. What I’m saying is, there isn’t one way to skin a cat, and just because we’re going back to a more traditional pro-style offense doesn’t mean we’ll automatically be going back to “3 yards and a cloud of dust,” and hopefully we’ll incorporate some “spread” elements to incorporate the skill on our roster. That being said, I’ll be kicking myself and eating my words if we do not take advantage of the skills on our roster.

Now that the coaching change has been made*, I am more pleased with what has transpired. DB was true to his word in the sense that we are spending more, which must be the case to get Mattison from Baltimore, which I am thrilled with, he seems to be a great hire. Our most important recruit will be in Ann Arbor in 2011 (Denard). And we are going to a 4-3. Woo, I say. Our offense may slip a bit, from excellent to great. But if we trade our special teams and defense from bad to above average in the near term, and great in the long-term, I will take it.

*For the record, I was a fan of the RR hiring. I loved the idea of bringing in a dynamic offense to Ann Arbor, and thought that coupled with our traditionally strong D great things would happen. I was also an advocate of giving RR a 4th year, but as our D continued to stagnate and our special teams showed little signs of improvement, I became more impartial to a change. Now that we have made the change, obviously I am becoming more and more okay with the hire, and am even guardedly optimistic.

Rich Rod didn't have a chance because no one agreed with the hire from the top to the bottom of the school and all over town," Hart said. "I'm going to be 100 percent behind whoever the coach at Michigan is and I hope everybody that loves Michigan is the same way, too, even if they don't like who Dave Brandon hires.

I still think it's a cool idea to play at Wrigley field. Yes, it's lame that they have to change sides of the field with each change of possession, but whatever. It's better that than to have a player injured by RUNNING INTO A WALL. (Remember that Houston player who broke his leg on the cart positioned too close to the field? Wall > cart.) It's much, much better that they are being safe, and if I were a player I'd be perfectly fine only playing offense one way if I had a chance to play in a unique environment like Wrigley field.

And yes, for people who are asking how it will work, they are going to have teams change sides of the field for each change of possession:

All offensive plays will head toward the west end zone, including all extra points and all overtime possessions.

So wow, everyone relax and just enjoy the game for what it is - a fun game in a unique setting, where people are trying to keep the kids safe.

We will see Denard running many, many times today today. To the tune of 30 carries for 166 yards.

No other running back will get more than 60 yards, and Denard will not have a run longer than 30 yards.

We will, however, have a few deep bombs completed as we focus more on our outside WRs today.

Roundtree will have a great day, dominating the slot position.

Denard will throw as many TDs and INTs.

To the glee of real Americans everywhere and to the detriment of Michigan fans, Stanzi will not throw a pick-six today. He will throw a boring pick instead.

We will have a great return, either on punt return or kickoff return. It's about time, dang it.

I will be drunk and having a good time watching this game. It's going to be a beautiful day and it's great to be a Michigan Wolverine.

The good guys will win today*: Michigan 31, Iowa 28. Who knows how we get there, maybe with 3 2-point conversions. Certainly not a field goal attempt.

* In the event we don't win, for the love of god let's not have an MGoCommunity meltdown. Iowa is a dang good team with a dang good defense. Just because we held them close last year at their place does not mean we are guaranteed to beat them this year at ours. See State, Michigan. /premature soap box rant

I've heard that on the board before, that the spread punt formation doesn't lend itself to fakes. But I don't get why that is, and would love to be taught. Because when I saw the formation live, it seemed like we were more susceptible, what with three returners back instead of the usual one. (Prior to the punt I remember thinking, "This is awesome, as long as they don't fake it.") While spread linemen makes rushing the punter easier, it doesn't change the difficulty in making a dump-off pass over the oncoming rushers, so I'm not clear as to why spread punt formations makes fake punts less feasible.

Maybe all my past* cringing during punt returns has made me wary of all special teams play. But you're right, I can't remember any other specific incident, which makes me realize I shouldn't throw around words like 'propensity' if I can't recall another event.

Athletes and coaches are applauded when they stay on an even keel - when they don't get too high when things are going well and don't get too down when times are tough. We as Michigan fans don't seem to get that. Either the sky is falling, or oh sh!t we are going undefeated, and if not the coaches better be fired.

At this rate, we'll be reserving them for the penalty we'll be taking due to our low APR. Guh. Frustrating to see these transfers!
Why transfer so early in the season? Is it because if they haven't played a snap yet they can play at a D1 school starting next season without having to sit out a year, other than this year?

I seem to recall Mouton getting hurt as well, requiring attention from the trainers. I was rather inebriated, so hopefully I am mistaken, or else it does not seem to be too serious? Can anyone confirm?

And man, Roundtree - wow. Just wow. Way to get up from that hit. Sucks if he can't make it for the next game as he'll be needed, I can't wait to see him back on the field, whenever that may be.

I was fired up seeing our players celebrate. I understand your concern, as you could see the ref basically saying, "Get back to your bench or I'm pulling this flag." every time we scored, but compared to UConn? We were jazzed to score - all our players seemed so absolutely, genuinely happy when their teammates scored. We were hungry for this game! Conversely, looking back at the highlights, UConn players seemed to say "Meh" when they scored... I'll take an occasional penalty if it means we're fired up and hungry.

In addition to the obvious reason that such an expansion would create a ginormous market base, I had another (horrifying) thought on why a move to 16 teams may be tempting for the conference. Forgive me if this has already been mentioned.

Say such an alleged super conf is broken up into two divisions of 8 teams apiece. Traditional thought has each team playing its own conference members, plus a few teams in the other division to continue rivalries. But the league could easily just have each team ONLY play teams within its own division (despite the subsequent home/away inbalance) and thereby allow each team an extra OOC game (5 instead of the current 4). Given the way the majority of BigTen schools schedule, this would likely be another home game, meaning even more $$ for the schools.

I definitely don't like the above idea - I abhor it. But until the Super Conference Rumor That Cannot Die is finally slain, I will worry about such thoughts as those above.

... but I have the good fortune of being able to go to two games this year. I chose the games before the draw came out, and lucked out with England v. Algeria and Portugal v. North Korea. I'll be rooting for whichever team has fewer points so that the U.S. has a better chance to advance (in full U.S. apparel, of course!).

That being said, Tate is our starter - I'm in agreement with the poster above who is surprised nobody recalls all that justified accolade early in the year (and all those Tate for Heisman mostly psuedo-jokes). Although it does make me so, so happy we are talking favorably at all about our back-up QB, let alone starting QB, and that there just might be some competition at the position. Yay for returning QBs.

The only thing I like more about adding a school to the conference is the thought that maybe, just maybe, the Big 10 will change its name to something that actually make sense, and accounts for all of its members. And I'm not talking about keeping the same name and sneaking in the number 2 within the logo.

I trust that mgobloggers are up to the challenge of coming up with such a name.

After seeing Doc Saturday's top 10 plays of 2009, again being reminded about Vincent Smith's knee injury (arg!), and seeing Manny being out for today's game, I needed a pick-me up. This article did it.

Is that you should be fine. I bought tickets on Thursday, and the guy at the counter basically said just buy the cheap seats and there should be space available to move down, so he's expecting a bunch of empty seats. But I haven't made it to a basketball game before, so that that for what it's worth.